4 minute read
My Turn
Being Thankful: Let Me Count The Ways
Why am I thankful my husband was an independent crop consultant? Let me count the ways: Who would have believed back in 1948 that a man in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, named Dan Logan would decide a farmer needs to know what is in his field before he puts a product out to kill it? Who would believe two agriculture students from Louisiana Tech would be hired to walk these fields and find out what was present?
And guess what? One of those lucky ag students has been my husband for 69 years!
He joined the Naval Aviation Program after graduation and flew anti-submarine planes from an aircraft carrier for four years. After discharge, this lucky student moved to Franklin Parish, Louisiana. At that time, Franklin Parish was the biggest cotton field in the state. That Navy aviator started knocking on doors of local farmers offering to find out what was in their fields and what it would take to correct the problems. He was amazed that farmers would hire him but thankful for the opportunity to have a job and be helping farmers at the same time.
The following fall this new scout enrolled at Louisiana State University and majored in entomology and studied under top notch professors to find out all about bugs and what they do to crops. His masters’ thesis was to prove the resistance of boll weevils to chlorinated hydrocarbons. He collected weevils from fields all over the state. He treated about 11,000 weevils and kept records of what killed what. He was fortunate to get help from fellow students, and their work proved weevil resistance to certain insecticides.
So blessed are we that this started a new field of work that has helped thousands of farmers. So thankful that many young men and women have entered the field of consulting and helped farmers raise a huge
assortment of high-quality crops. Our consultant and his crews checked cotton from north to central Louisiana, which means he grew to love and respect countless excellent keepers of God’s soil. During these years of consulting, we were blessed to know hundreds of young people who needed summer employment. How else could we have met these outstanding young people? Many of the students received college credit from Louisiana universities for the summer work. It would Dorothy Young be difficult to count the ones we were fortunate to know who have been very successful in their chosen careers. Many are now great consultants. Others are in a variety of professions, even heart transplant doctors, etc.! I am thankful this consulting husband helped with the eradication of the boll weevil. He helped open the door for broadening consulting to not only bug checking but variety selection, when to plant, how to prepare land for irrigation, when to irrigate, crop fertilization and all factors concerning crop production. I also am thankful our children have been a big part of this journey. The “Thanks be to God for the journey as a crop consultant’s wife.” sons started checking cotton and crops at an early age and all through high school and college. We live in a very small town. No laundry mats or eating joints available. The girls helped cook for the students we housed, hoe our cotton fields and do laundry for the boys. This was a great influence on their work ethic. Here’s another reason to be thankful: We have met wonderful people from all over the country who have shared their love for helping farmers produce better crops. We have enjoyed travel in the winter or off-growing season. Thanks be to God for the journey as a crop consultant’s wife. Guess I better tell you my bestest crop consultant that I have been talking about is Ray Young from Wisner, Louisiana. Come see us. We’d love to feed you country cooking and talk about crop consulting and raising crops on this wonderful land God has entrusted to us. — Dorothy Young Wisner, Louisiana dorothyrayyoung@centurylink.net
Cotton Farming’s back page is devoted to telling unusual “farm tales” or timely stories from across the Cotton Belt. Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got an interesting story to tell, send a short summary to csmith@onegrower.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
OWN THE EARLY
